Pradip Kumar Dutta
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Senior Banker Pradip Kumar Dutta is set to join the Farmers Bank Limited (FBL) as advisor to help improving financial health of the fourth generation private commercial bank.
The joining of Mr. Dutta was approved at a special board of directors meeting of the bank held its headquarters in Dhaka on Friday with its Chairman Dr. Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir in the chair.
“We’ll apply to the central bank seeking clearance of the appointment of Mr. Dutta as advisor of our bank on Sunday,” a FBL senior executive told BBN in Dhaka after the meeting.
Former Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the largest state-owned commercial bank –Sonali Bank Limited –Mr. Dutta did his M.Sc. in Applied Chemistry from University of Dhaka in 1974. He also obtained Diploma in Banking from the Institute of Bankers of Bangladesh.
The FBL’s latest move came against the backdrop of higher credit growth than deposit that has created liquidity problem of the PCB.
As of August last, the bank's total deposits amounted to BDT 51.70 billion and loan portfolio BDT 48.54 billion. The bank's advance-deposit ratio, generally known as ADR, has been crossed 85 per cent for several months, which goes against central bank rule.
The central bank of Bangladesh had earlier set the safe limit of ADR at 85 per cent for conventional banks and at 90 per cent for Sharia-based Islamic banks.
Besides, rising trend of withdrawing pressure on deposits following some media reports has also pushed down liquidity flow of the bank in the recent days, according to the industry insiders.
BBN/SSR/AD